I want to finish many of my models in a way that is more or less perfectly “flat” to preserve the flat finish of otherwise scratchable paint surfaces. Unfortunatelly, whenever I’ve used so-called “flat” finishes they still leave a slight sheen on the surface. How can I improve on this situation? Will adding Tamiya’s flattening agent to dullcote-type solutions make them more flat? How does “flattened” future look? I don’t suppose it would be safe to just leave the model unfinished, would it? (especially with Tamiya acrylics)
Testors also has Acryl clear flat which works great. I recently used it to flatten a few glossy panels on a Gundam model painted with Acryl gloss dark blue. You don’t have to use the lacquer stuff. You’re airbrushing it, I guess.
I prefer Polly Scale Clear Acrylic Flat if you want a dead flat finish. The ModelMaster Acryl flat is also excellent, but not quite as good as the Polly Scale, in my experience.
Regards, Rick
Swanny has a page about using Future…you can add different amounts of Tamiya flat to obtain varying “flatness” of final coats.
http://www.swannysmodels.com/TheCompleteFuture.html
What about the big square bottles of Testor’s dullcoat, I believe it to be lacquer. Is that what you all are talking about when you mention Model Master flat coat? I have two big bottles of the regular Testor’s at my bench, it works great, but you have to use lacquer thinner. It’s very flat.
I’ve had mixed results with Testor’s Flat Lacquer Dullcoat. Some batches are excellent, others leave a slight sheen. I wouldn’t think that Tamiya’s X-21 Flat base is appropriate for mixing with dullcoat since it is for acrylic and dullcoat is lacquer based. Although, I suppose there is no harm in experimenting on scrap. I used to use dullcoat, but have switched to Tamiya Flat Base + Future in a 1:4 ratio of 1 part Flat Base to 4 parts Future. The main thing is to mix it really well, because a clump of Flat Base will dry white. That admonition aside, I have had great succes with this.